Wristwatch-like wearable devices are often referred to as smartwatches. Smartwatches play a dual role of stylish fashion accessory and functional device. Manufacturers of smartwatches desire a particular shape of an outside of a watch housing and a shape of a display area (e.g., a portion of a display panel that includes active pixels) of the display panel contained within the watch housing. Round may be perceived as being the most elegant and/or sophisticated of the shapes. The perceived elegance and sophistication of a round display area within a round housing are enhanced by a narrow bezel surrounding the display area of the smartwatch.
It is desirable to provide bezels that are as narrow as possible and display areas that are as large as possible. A narrow bezel maximizes the display area and imparts a positive visual impression. Because the bezel may conceal the border area adjacent to an outer edge of the display area, the border area should also be as narrow as possible. However, transmission lines (e.g., control lines, display driver lines, power lines, and/or ground lines) in the border area couple circuitry in the display area and border area to connection pads. The connection pads may be arranged in a linear row to facilitate connection to a flexible circuit board. The configuration of the connection pads is not a design choice; the configuration of the connection pads is a technical problem that is forced upon persons of skill in the art by, for example, the stylish shapes of smartwatches selected by manufacturers and designers of smartwatches. Configuring the connection pads, to minimize border areas and maximize display areas for round and non-round display panels presents persons of skill in the art with a real world problem.